2011: A Year in Review

Oh my. An entire post dedicated to the busiest, happiest, most celebration-filled year of my existence yet. This shouldn't be long at all... ;)

2011 has, without a doubt, been the most exciting year in my life. My family and I have celebrated so much this year, gone through an absolutely ridiculous amount of change, and also seen some sad moments this year, as well. I have been looking forward to this post for quite some time now. So, here we go.

2011: A Year in Review

This year started off with a bang with an entire crew of 10 flying off to Disney World to watch Chuck and Zach run in the Disney World Marathon. Not only did we spend some awesome days in the park and watch them run in the race, but we celebrated Greg popping the question and proposing to Amy right in the middle of the Magic Kingdom!

While we were gone to Disney, Birmingham experienced a wintry wonderland (or rather, ice) and my coworkers were stranded at the hospital for three days because leaving was forbidden and no one was coming in to relieve them. Who was glad to be in sunny Florida? This girl. However, February brought us some nice snow, which was a change for Alabama. We got quite a bit! And it was gorgeous.

March rolled around and proved to be a busy, busy month. It started off with a bang when Amy, Greg, Mom, Dwayne, Chuck and myself all took a trip down to Fairhope, AL to celebrate Mardi Gras with the Nesters!

Then, on March 7, my dad passed away. This brought about more emotions than I could have ever anticipated. We experienced our first heartbreak of 2011 with his passing, and I will never forget the good moments with my Dad that I have stored away in my memory. 

"Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Following the ordeal surrounding my dad, we took a trip to Destin during Alabama and Auburn's spring break and spent some days enjoying the beach and relaxing with Robbie before sending him off to the Navy.

So, after our adventure in Destin, Robbie said his goodbyes and off to Navy Basic he went. It's been a year of adjustments and moving and unknowns for him, but it's been great having him home for the time that he has been able to come back and visit. We miss having him home!

March was a difficult month all-around. Many goodbyes were said and we had some sad moments, but April got kicked off to a good start with our first wedding shower!! Kyle threw us a Crawfish Boil at his friend Odie's house, and it was a blast.

Then, April 27th brought about one of the most devastating, terrifying moments in my life, Chuck's life, and the lives of the entire state of Alabama. The F5 tornado tore it's way through Tuscaloosa and hit Chuck's house while he, Josh, and their friend were all inside, hiding in the bathroom. I will absolutely never forget the horrible moment when I realized his house was being hit while listening to the radio before walking out of the house to leave for work. Those 15 minutes that passed before I knew that he was alive and safe were horrible, and I will never know what the three of them went through. 

April ended with a bang with Kayla and Nate getting hitched! It was so fun to watch them get married and spend some good quality time with old nursing school friends.

May was a pretty low-key month. It started off with a girl's beach trip at the beginning of the month that I'm convinced should become an annual thing. It was so much fun being at the beach, with perfect weather and old friends.

Then May 25th rolled around and our little Emily graduated from high school!! I'm still not okay with the fact that she's all grown up and in college now... it's weird having your little sister be an adult. But she is. And I'll get over it.

So where are we? I believe that brings us to June. I'm sure you are also extremely bored by this recap.. oh well. I'm enjoying looking back over pictures and reliving the moments, so maybe you are, too!

June started off with us taking a trip down to Fairhope, Alabama for the annual Grandman triathlon. Chuck did extremely well this race and placed 3rd in his age group!

That same weekend, I had my bridal tea hosted by sweet ladies from GVBC. It had an incredible turn out and we got some great stuff for the house.

June ended with my lingerie shower hosted by my two awesome sisters.....

.....and some slight changes in the wedding ceremony location.

Two weeks before the wedding and no ceremony location?? No problem, right? Right :)

So, then July came! What a wonderful month. The month we had been counting down to for 10 months! The weekend before the wedding (as if we didn't have any wedding prep to do back home) we headed off to Chattanooga, TN for another triathlon. 

And then what did that bring us to?!?! WEDDING WEEK! 

The bridesmaids luncheon.

Rehearsal.

Rehearsal dinner.

And then what always follows a wedding? A HONEYMOON!!

Goodness. And we are only a little over halfway done with the year! Let's keep on trucking...

So, post wedding and honeymoon extravaganza led us to August, which was somewhat low-key as well. On August 7, Emily moved off to Auburn for her freshman year!

Then on August 14th, Chuck and I went on our first married trip (other than the honeymoon) to Atlanta to watch the PGA Championship! 

 And then Mom and Dwayne got hitched on August 27th, and we added yet another member to the family!

September was a big month for Chuck. On September 25th, Chuck did his first Half-Ironman triathlon!! And he did SO EXTREMELY WELL! He finished in 5 hours and 38 minutes like a champ, and I couldn't be more proud. AND it was our first race as husband and wife. So much fun!

October rolled around and Amy and Greg kicked off the month by getting hitched!! And we added YET ANOTHER member to our (now even more awesome) family :)

So, after the Boggs wedding, we were 3 for 3! And all were a huge success. Couldn't be happier with my big, happy family.

November rolled around and got started off to a bad start. We lost to LSU in overtime, which was absolutely devastating and I couldn't even stand it. But now, it's all come to an okay end because we are headed to the National Championship anyway!! But I'm getting ahead of myself.. 

November 12th was a sad day in the lives of the Abbeys because it was the day that we sold Chuck's Xterra.

Then, Chuck and I got to celebrate our first holiday together as a married couple on Thanksgiving with the family! On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon with my family eating delicious grub before they headed off to Atlanta with the Boggs. Thanksgiving day, we trucked down to LaFayette to spend the day with the Abbeys before I had to be back for work that night.

December... guys, we've reached the last month! December started out on the right foot by bringing home our first real Christmas tree to decorate our town home!

We spent basically all of December decorating the house and enjoying the Christmas scenery in our everyday lives. 

Then, the holiday finally arrived!

New Year's Eve was exciting (for the first time ever.. haha -- we are normally such bums on NYE!). But this year we went to a party that was hosted in a loft in downtown Birmingham. 

And that wraps up the year 2011. It's in the books! And it was SUCH a successful year. Such an incredible amount of amazing things happened to me and my family this year. We have been blessed beyond belief and couldn't be more grateful for all of the things that happened this year. 

May 2012 bring us another year to remember!